The trend estimate of the total value of housing finance commitments (owner occupation) in South Australia rose in December 2010 to $883m. The December estimate is 1.1% higher than the previous month, but is 25.4% lower than the peak value of housing finance commitments recorded in June 2009 ($1,184m). Nationally, the value of housing finance commitments for owner occupation was $14,569m in December 2010; 1.4% higher than November 2010 but 14.9% lower than the peak recorded in June 2009 ($17,130m).

HOUSING FINANCE COMMITMENTS (OWNER OCCUPATION) (a), South Australia

In December 2010, the average home loan size for owner occupied dwellings in South Australia was $228,800, a decrease of 2.0% over the previous month, and 20.0% lower than the average loan size for Australia ($286,100).

In December 2010, the average loan commitment for first home buyers in South Australia fell to $232,000; a decrease of 0.6% over the November estimate. Similarly, the average loan size for non-first home buyers fell to $228,400; a decrease of 2.2% over the same period. The December estimate of average loan commitments for first home buyers is 1.6% higher than for non-first home buyers, but 13.5% below the peak for first home buyer commitments recorded in March 2009 ($268,300).

For information on the house price index, please refer to the ' Price Indexes' topic.

*IMPACT OF THE FLOODS

Flooding in Queensland began in late December 2010. Data collection and processing for the data in the Housing Finance, Australia, Dec 2010 publication were not disrupted. It is expected that the economic impact of floods/cyclone in Queensland and other states, if any, will be reflected in the forthcoming issues of Housing Finance, Australia (cat. no. 5609.0).